Changing Clothes

In 1875, David Franklin Stark left his home in Lexington, Illinois to look for work in cities in Illinois, Ohio, and Tennessee. In a time where the long depression collapsed banking systems and bankrupted businesses, unemployment and homelessness were at an all-time high. Out of desperation, David joined the army in Nashville. Suddenly, he deserted on August 14, 1875. David Franklin Stark disappeared from all official records between 1875 to 1887, when he marries Missouri Jane Sheppard Smith. His name resurfaces on a marriage license as Thomas Benton Kelly. Where was he during the period from 1875 to 1887? When did he change his name? Family lore places him in Texas, Oklahoma Territory and Kansas as a cowboy during 1885-1887.